Myanmar junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing will make an official visit to Laos in the next few days, state media reported on Wednesday, his first trip to an ASEAN member state since taking on his new civilian role.

Background

The planned trip comes four months after Min Aung Hlaing completed a carefully engineered transition from head of the military government to president. He has already visited Myanmar’s giant neighbours, India and China.

At the invitation of Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith, Min Aung Hlaing will travel with his spouse and a delegation of senior cabinet ministers and officials, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not endorse the results of Myanmar’s three-stage polls in December and January, which excluded major opposition groups and ended in an overwhelming victory for a party backed by the military.

But ASEAN leaders have sought to engage more with Myanmar since the election, with Malaysian foreign minister Mohamad Hasan and Thailand’s top diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow making trips to the capital Naypyitaw.

Min Aung Hlaing took power in a 2021 coup against an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, which triggered protests that subsequently morphed into a devastating civil war that continues to rage.

A state visit to Laos represents the clearest break yet with the diplomatic quarantine that ASEAN imposed on Naypyitaw after the coup, according to Richard Horsey, senior Asia advisor at the International Crisis Group.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.